Control apparatus



March 16, 1965 Filed Dec. 26, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

INVENTOR.

EDWARD C. 0006 ATTORNEY March 16, 1965 E. c. DODGE 3,173,306

CONTROL APPARATUS Filed Dec. 26, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

EDWARD C. DO GE ATTORN EY March 16, 1965 E. c. DODGE coumor. APPARATUS Filed Dec. 26, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

EDWARD C. DODGE BY /Z 1% ATT RNEY m wE March 16, 1965 E. c. DODGE 3,173,305

\ CONTROL APPARATUS Filed Dec. 26, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 6|, I ii I I5 I 72 0 DJ c k INVENTOR EDWARD C. DODGE ATTORNEY United States Patent The subject matter of this invention is a machine for continuously marking groups of circular bands of distinguishable colors and widths around the surface of an insulated .wire at predetermined intervals along the .wire, while the latter is being passed from a feed spool to a takearp spool.

In the manufacture of complex electronic equipment it has been found extremely desirable to identify each conductor used, so that it can readily be distinguished from and traced among other conductors for testing and repair purposes, and also so that interconnecting cables can be separately built up and subsequently installed, with each end of ,each conductor easily connected to the proper equipment terminal. For rudimentary systems this has been accomplished by using wires of different colors, and where more than ten codes have been needed further combinations have been created by applying to a wire of a first color one or more spiral stripes of contrasting colors.

While this may solve the identification problem for simple systems, it leaves the manufacturer faced with the necessity of carrying an .enormous stock of color coded wires, since different sizes are needed for different applications, and shielded wires of different sizes must also be available. Moreover there is a limit to the number of stripes that can be laid along the smaller diameter wires, and hence to the number of distinguishable codes available for these wires.

By the use of the present invention, on the other hand,

it is only necessary for the manufacturer to stock white wire, in such sizes of plain and shielded ,types as are required electrically in hisequipment. Individual spools or parts of spools may be marked as occasion demands with any desired multicolor code at any desired intervals along the wire. The coding is in the form of groups of colored bands around the wire: the bands may differ in number, width, and color to give a fantastic number of distinguishable codes, which is not limited as the size of the wire decreases.

A principle object of the invention is to providean improved wire coding machine. Other objects, advantages and features of novelty which characterize my invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming apart hereof. However, fora better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and objects attained by its use, reference should be had .to the subjoined drawing, which forms a further part hereof, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, inwhich 'l have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawing, FIGURE 1 is a schematic showing of the invention as a whole,. FlGURE 2 is a generally longitudinal section of the marking station, FIGURE 3 is a generally plan viewiof the marking station, FIGURE 4 is a generally transversesection ofthe marking station, and FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary rear view of the marking station, with parts broken away .for clarity of illustration.

Referring'tirst to FIGURE 1, the wire .10 to be marked is continuously drawn from a feed spool 11, suitably mounted with a light friction to preventloose unwinding of the wire. After passing through a ,felt wiper 12 .the wire goes through an oscillator generally indicated .by the reference numeral 13, after which it passes a marking ddllifidh Patented Mar. 16, 1965 station 14, a drying and fusing station 15, and an air quench station 16. The wire is drawn from the feed spool by acapstan pulley 17 from whence it passes through a level wind mechanism 2 0 to a take-up spool 21. A footage counter 22 is associated with pulley 17, and power for operating the entire mechanism except the oscillator is derived from a variable speed motor 23.

The purpose of oscillator 13 is .to cause the wire to continuously rotate in alternate directions about its own axis through somewhat more than 360 degrees: it incidentally performs wire straightening and friction feed functions. The oscillator consists of a motor 24 acting through a Scotch yoke 25 tore iprocate a rack The rack meshes with .a pinion 27 which acts through gearing 3t) to oscillate a spool 31 about its own ,axis, which coincides with that of wire The lower end of rack 26 comprises the piston 32 of a single acting oil pump. The oscillator is contained in a suitable housing, not shown, the bottom of which forms a sump which'contains the cylinder 33 of the pump. Oil is continuously supplied therefrom to the gearing andScotch yoke by a distribution system suggested ,by the pipe 34.

Spool 3.1 may be one of an interchangeable set, to give the machine the capability of continuously marking many different sizes of wire. A sinuous passage 35 extends through the .spool, its diameter being determined by that ,of the wire it isdesigned to pass. This type of construction was resorted tobecauseof the great natural slipperiness of the Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) insulation ,used .on the wire being marked. Due .to the friction between the sinuous passage and the wire, rotation of the latter accompanies rotation of the former, while continuous movement of the wire through the spool is simultaneously taking place. If desired an output guide bushing which does not rotate may be made a part of the oscillator.

Marking station 14 is shown in more detail in FIG- URES .2 through 5 to include a base member 336. A first shaft 37 driven by motor 23 is received in bearings 40, Ali in a bore .42 in member 36, and carries at its upper end a first sprocket wheel 43. A bearing block 44 carries a stub shaft 45 in bearing 46, 47 in .a bore 50, and is adjustably secured in an opening 51 in member 36 by screws 52 passing through elongated openings in block 44. A second, idler sprocket wheel 53 is carried at the .upper end of stub shaft 45, and an endless roller chain .54 encircles the two sprocket wheels, being maintained at suitable tension by adjusting block d4 relative to base member 36. Thus chain 54 is driven by shaft 37.

Chain 54 is made up of alternate plain links 55 and bent attachment links'56. Each pair of attachment links has riveted to it the vertical member 57 of a carriage 60 having a horizontal tray :61 brazed or otherwise secured to it. The upperend of each member '57 is slotted at 52 and is provided with a pin 63 .to pivotally support a pen carrier =64 having a clamp plate 65 releasably secured thereto by screws 66. K I

A plurality of ink wells 67 maybe received in halfdovetail grooves in trays 61, being secured in place by leaf springs 7%, for cooperation-with a plurality of pens 71 composed of strips of resilient sheet metal formed to be received at one end under a clamp plate and to dip at theother endinto anink well. When various band .widths are not desired the pens may-be formed from round spring wire. The pen carriers are so adjusted that they normally balance in the position shown in FIGURE 2.

Atabletop-iZ-is fastened to base member 36 by screws 73 and .an inner platform 74 rests on spacers 7.5 supported .by the base member. A cam block 76 rests on platform and is secured with the platform to :base member 35 by screws77. A marking cam 80 and an agifrom spool to spool.

bands to the wire without injuring the latter.

a3 tating cam 81 are secured to block 76 by screws 82, and extend parallel to the straight portions of the chain.

In one embodiment of the invention the chain has a pitch of /2" and comprises twenty links, so that there are ten possible marking positions. The chain is driven by motor 23, as is capstan pulley 17, and the mechanical connections are made such that the linear speed of the chain is the same as that of the wire to be marked, which moves along beside it. There is thus no relative longitudinal movement between the marking station and the wire, even though the latter may be passing quite rapidly To mark, it is only necessary that a pen or group of pens be pivoted up out of the well and into engagement with the wire: since the latter is oscillating about its axis through 360 degrees, the mark becomes a band around the wire, determined in width by the width of the pen.

If all the marking positions are filled with pens and inkwells, the wire is marked every inch. Alternate positions may be left empty, when the wire is marked at two inch intervals, or only two opposite positions or even a single position may be filled, when the Wire is marked at five inch or ten inch intervals. The arrangement for marking the wire every five inches is shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

The pen carriers are pivoted into marking position as the carriages move along beside'the wire by operation of cam 80, which engages the tail 83 of each carrier as it begins to move parallel to the wire and depresses it into the position shown in FIGURE 4 by the time the carriage is midway of its linear travel. Thereafter the carrier is allowed to return to its normal position by the symmetrical configuration of the cam.

Cam 81, on the opposite side of block 76, is provided with not one but a pair of camming curves, as shown by the broken line in FIGURE 2, which raise and lower the pens twice, thus keeping the ink agitated so that its particles remain in suspension.

After leaving marking station 14, the wire passes through drying and fusing station and air quench station 16, the joint function of which is to fix the colored This is done by first evaporating away the suspending liquid, then heating the surface of the wire to a temperature at which the deposited colored Teflon particles fuse to the Teflon insulation of the wire, and finally cooling the surface of the wire. Both the heating and the cooling must be done rapidly, so that the surface fusing can take place before appreciable heat is conducted into the body of the insulation to damage it.

To this end fusing station 15 comprises a heater 84 and a reflector 85. The latter is cylindrical and is mounted parallel to the wire: if desired it may have a parabolic or elliptical configuration. The speed requirement for heater 84 to accomplish both drying and fusing was found to be best met by an elongated, gas-fired infrared burner mounted level with the wire on a rotatable platform 86 so that its angular relation to wire 10 can be adjusted and locked by suitable means 87. Platform 86 is mounted on a bed 90 carried in ways 91 so that the distance of heater 84 from the wire can be adjusted by a hand screw 92.

Air quench station 16 is arranged to give maximum speed of cooling of the wire after the fusing process is completed. It comprises a generally T-shaped chamber: the wire passes through the center of the cross bar 93 of the T, and a nozzle 94 connected to a source of high pressure air, not shown, is directed into the leg 95 of the T. By this arrangement a relatively small quantity of high pressure air is capable of entraining a large quantity of ambient air, thus quickly conducting away the heat from the surface of the wire to prevent a general temperature rise thereof beyond a tolerable level.

As pointed out above, the wire is moved through the various stations in sequence by capstan pulley 17. The

speed of the wire must be the same as that of chain 54 in the marking station: in order to accomplish this, a set of interchangeable capstan pulleys are preferably provided, having different diameters for use with wires of different sizes.

From the foregoing it will be evident that I have in vented means enabling a wire user to manufacture his own color coded wire in lengths sufficient to meet his needs, the number of codes being eifectively limitless while the requirement for stocking wire extends only to a white wire of each of the sizes and types wanted.

Numerous objects and advantages of my invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, and the novel features thereof are pointed out in the appended claims. The disclosure, however, is illustrative only, and I may make changes in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts, within the principle of the invention, to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination: means for causing movement of an elongated member at a scheduled rate along a first straight path defined by its own axis; moveable marking means including a moveable marking element; means causing movement of said marking means at said predetermined rate along a second straight path aligned with and adjacent to said first path; and means operative during said move ment of said marking means to move said marking element into position for engagement with the elongated member.

2. In combination: means for causing movement of an elongated member at a scheduled rate along a first path defined by its own axis; means for simultaneously causing continuous oscillation of the member about its own axis through substantially 360 degrees; movable marking means including a movable marking element; means causing movement of said marking means at said scheduled rate along a second path aligned with and adjacent to said first path; and means operative during said movement of said marking means to move said marking ele ment into a marking position for engagement with the elongated member, the frequency and amplitude of said oscillation being at least large enough for the member to rotate through substantially 360 degrees in the interval during which the marking element is in the marking po sition.

3. In combination: means for causing movement of an elongated member at a scheduled rate along a first straight path defined by its own axis; movable marking means in eluding a container for marking fluid and a movable mark ing element normally dipping into said container; means causing movement of said marking means at said scheduled rate along a second straight path aligned with and adjacent to said first path; and means operative during said movement of said marking means to move said mark ing element out of said container and into a position for engagement with the elongated member.

4. In combination: means for causing movement of an elongated member at a scheduled rate along a first path defined by its own axis; movable marking means including a plurality of containers for marking fluid and a plurality of independently movable marking elements norleast one container having a plurality of chambers for marking fluid and at least one marking element including a plurality of spaced unitarily movable pens normally dipping severally into chambers of said container; means causing movement of said marking means at said scheduled rate along a second path aligned with and adjacent to said first path; and means operative upon said marking element during said movement of said marking means to lift said pens out of said chambers and into a position for substantially simultaneous engagement with the elongated member.

6. In combination: means causing simultaneous axial translation and circumaxial angular oscillation of a filar member; marking means operable into a position for engagement with the member to apply marking material thereto; and means causing translation of said marking means substantially identical with the translation of said member, whereby to apply an annular band of marking material to the member.

7. In combination: means causing simultaneous axial translation and circumaxial angular oscillation of a filar member; marking means successively operable into a position for engagement with the member to apply marking material thereto; and means causing translation of said marking means substantially identical with the translation of the member, whereby to apply a succession of annular bands of marking material to the member.

8. In a wire marking machine, in combination: means including a capstan pulley for continuously drawing white wire from a feed spool and winding it smoothly on a takeup spool, at a predetermined rate; means mounted between said feed spool and said capstan pulley for continuously oscillating the wire ab out its own axis through substantially 360 degrees; marking means mounted between the last named means and said capstan pulley for intermittently applying to the surface of the wire marking material comprising a suspension of colored particles in a liquid; means causing linear movement of the last named means in synchronism and alignment with the longitudinal movement of the wire, so that said material forms an annular band on said surface; means mounted between said marking means and said capstan pulley for fusing said marking material to said surface, comprising an elongated source of infrared radiation on one side of the wire, an elongated cylindrical reflector on the opposite side of the Wire, means mounting said reflector to extend substantially parallel to the wire, and means mounting said source for adjustment of its spacing and its angularity relative to the wire, so that as the wire moves its surface temperature increases to first evaporate the liquid and then fuse the particles of said material to said surface; and means mounted between the last named means and said capstan pulley for subsequently cooling the surface of the wire rapidly, before the heat supplied by said source has penetrated substantially below said surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,234,704 7/ 17 Subers 118-68 X 1,896,538 2/33 Bryce 101-93 2,186,788 1/40 Olson 174-112 2,316,984 4/43 Brockel 118-67 2,350,694 6/44 Ncolas 118-225 2,562,500 7/51 Lunt et al 118-401 2,781,021 2/57 Schmitz 118-234 3,039,430 6/62 Papp 118-221 3,071,486 1/63 Kingsley 118-67 X 3,107,181 10/63 B'auder 118-211 3,118,790 1/ 64 Gonsalves 118-44 3 RICHARD D. NEVIUS, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH B. SPENCER, Examiner. 

6. IN COMBINATION: MEANS CAUSING SIMULTANEOUS AXIAL TRANSLATION AND CIRCUMAXIAL ANGULAR OSILLATION OF A FILAR MEMBER; MARKING MEANS OPERABLE INTO A POSITION FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MEMBER TO APPLY MARKING MATERIAL THERETO; AND MEANS CAUSING TRANSLATION OF SAID MARKING MEANS SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL WITH THE TRANSLATION OF SAID 